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The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations. It sets out the different ways in which it’s unlawful to treat someone. The Equality Act protects those receiving care and the workers that provide it from being treated unfairly because of any characteristics that are protected under the legislation.

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The Equality Act replaces previous anti-discrimination legislation and regulations including:

·         The Equal Pay Act 1970

·         The Sex Discrimination Act 1975

·         The Race Relations Act 1976

·         The Disability Discrimination Act 1995

·         The Equality Act 2006.

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There are nine protected characteristics:

·         age

·         disability

·         gender reassignment

·         marriage and civil partnership

·         pregnancy and maternity

·         race

·         religion or belief

·         sex

·         sexual orientation

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Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have.

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In discrimination cases, where there has been a breach of the Equality Act 2010 by the employer, the two most important categories are injury to feelings and loss of earnings. Unlike unfair dismissal, there is no limit on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in discrimination cases.
A significant problem in employment law is that employers who lose at the employment tribunal often simply refuse to pay the award. It appears that bankruptcy — or the resulting threat of it — is the factor that is given as the reason for the non-payment of fines and awards by small to medium-sized businesses

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Since the equality act

76 per cent of businesses saw reputation as an important driver of business behaviour in relation to equality;

only 6 per cent of employers experienced complaints or grievances.

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Information and guidance on the Equality Act 2010, including age discrimination and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

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When are you protected from discrimination?

Discrimination means treating you unfairly because of who you are. The Equality Act 2010 protects you from discrimination by:

employers

businesses and organisations which provide goods or services like banks, shops and utility companies

health and care providers like hospitals and care homes

someone you rent or buy a property from like housing associations and estate agents

schools, colleges and other education providers

transport services like buses, trains and taxis

public bodies like government departments and local authorities.

There are nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act. Discrimination which happens because of one or more of these characteristics is unlawful under the Act. We all have some of these characteristics - for example, sex or age - so the Act protects everyone from discrimination.

If you're treated unfairly because someone thinks you belong to a group of people with protected characteristics, this is also unlawful discrimination.

What are the protected characteristics?

The characteristics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010 are:

age

disability

gender reassignment

marriage or civil partnership (in employment only)

pregnancy and maternity

race

religion or belief

sex

sexual orientation

Discrimination by association

The Act also protects you if people in your life, like family members or friends, have a protected characteristic and you're treated unfairly because of that. This is called discrimination by association. For example, if you're discriminated against because your son is gay.

If you complain about discrimination

The Equality Act protects you if you're treated badly because you've complained about discrimination or stood up for discrimination rights, either for yourself or for someone else.

Further help and information

You can find out more about your rights under the Equality Act in our discrimination section.

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Equality Act 2010 - discrimination and your rights

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Discrimination means treating you unfairly because of who you are. The Equality Act 2010 protects you from discrimination by: employers businesses and organisations which provide goods or services like banks, shops and utility companies health and care providers like hospitals and care homes someone you rent or buy a property from like housing associations and estate agents schools, colleges and other education providers transport services like buses, trains and taxis public bodies like government departments and local authorities.